Andy Farrell has asserted that Ireland will not be burdened by their narrow defeat to England and states that they have thoroughly reviewed what went wrong. Farrell also defended Conor Murray from the online backlash he has received.
Last weekend, Ireland, who were chasing a historic back-to-back Grand Slam, were beaten by England 23-22 at Twickenham, thanks to a late Marcus Smith drop goal, and with that, the Grand Slam dream ended.
Ireland now welcomes Scotland to Dublin to avenge their narrow defeat by the English this weekend. A win for Ireland will guarantee another Six Nations title, provided they don't lose and England don't win against France.
There have been few Irish defeats under Farrell, and he is confident that the defeat won't linger. He also backs his Ireland players to bounce back against their Celtic neighbours, Scotland, this weekend.
"I'm not worried. In fact, I'd be super confident in the way we've reviewed the game, analysed it, and gotten down to the bare bones of the reasons why and how it all accumulated to England having a deserved win by a point in the end," he said on Thursday.
"I thought we were a bit off, as far as committing to absolutely everything we were going to do. I suppose that's across the whole of the game. When that's put in front of you, and we agree on that, you tend to want another chance to put that right.
"I love winning titles; there's no doubt about that, but this is an occasion for us to perform when it really matters. We said it in the Grand Slam game last year, and we were able to get over the line, but the performance wasn’t exactly white hot, so that’s what you’re always chasing.
"Of course, winning matters a lot. Certainly winning Six Nations titles, however, means an awful lot, but having said that, we pride ourselves on performing well when it matters, and I suppose that’s what we’ll judge ourselves on first."
Marcus Smith scored a dramatic late drop goal to give England victory over Ireland in the Six Nations 🥵
England keep their title hopes alive while Ireland remain top 🏆
A moment that will live long in the memory for supporters 🏴 pic.twitter.com/Jv4t1HUj36— SPORTbible (@sportbible) March 9, 2024
Ireland were a minute away from recording another win when one of their more experienced players, Conor Murray, decided to go for the box kick, which went into touch. England took the lineout, retained possession, and would eventually edge out Ireland in the end.
Murray has come under fire for his kick online, with some furious at the decision to kick with so little time left. One social media user at the time said, "Conor Murray kicking the ball away with a minute to go is criminal. What the absolute f**k are we doing? so-called 'senior players' f***g the game away."
Farrell was asked if he had seen the abuse that his player was getting this week and admitted that he had.
"It has, and everyone would be lying if they said they hadn't," he added.
"But that's been the way of the world for some time now, hasn't it, really, in regards to social media, etc.
"We've battened down the hatches as far as our concentration on what we need to do to improve our performance and make sure that we're the best of ourselves."
When asked about Murray himself, Farrell admitted the abuse was unfair but added that it was the way of the world when it comes to wanting tangible outcomes from successful people.
"It's certainly unfair because this is the way of the world, and you’ll agree with me on this: the more successful some people are, the more people—I don’t know what the word is—other than get p****d off with success, longevity, people staying at the top as long as they possibly can," he said.
"Everybody always wants somebody else to come in and a new, fresh young rookie to light everything up."
The clash against Scotland at the Aviva Stadium will kick off at 4.45 p.m. Saturday's match is also live on Virgin Media One and ITV, with live radio coverage available on RTE Radio 1.
Ireland team to play Scotland
Backs
15. Fullback: Hugo Keenan 14. Winger: James Lowe 11. Winger: Calvin Nash
13. Centre: Robbie Henshaw 12 . Centre: Bundee Aki
10. Outhalf: Jack Crowley 9. Scrumhalf: Jamison Gibson-Park
Forwards
1. Prop: Andrew Porter; 2. Hooker:Dan Sheehan 3. Prop: Tadhg Furlong
4. Lock: 5. Joe McCarthy Lock: 6 Tadhg Beirne
6. Blindside Flanker: Peter O'Mahony 7. Openside Flanker: Josh van der Flier 8.: Number 8 Caelan Doris.
Replacements: 16. Rónan Kelleher; 17. Cian Healy; 18. Finlay Bealham 19. Ryan Baird 20. Jack Conan; 21. Conor Murray 22. Harry Byrne 23. Garry Ringrose
